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Monthly Archives: March 2009
Chicken Update
Here are the chickens, after a big week in the shed. This week they kind of sprouted up a little — they’re not so round and fluffy — they’re getting kind of tall and chicken-y looking. You can’t see it from this photo, but they’re starting to stand up and crane their little necks.
They survived a couple of really cold nights out there in the cardboard box in the dog crate, so that was a triumph. On Saturday, I built them a bigger box — taped two boxes together so now they have the whole 3′x2′ dog crate — I added that mini-laying box (although they won’t be laying for ages) and a little stick to perch on. I also made a small flat platform for the waterer — they were tipping it and spilling water all over themselves.
It was a good decision to keep them in the shed. The first week, they were just little peepers — but now they’re starting to smell like chickens. And as fond as I am of the peepers, I have some standards. Dogs in the house are one thing, but no livestock in the house!
Next weekend’s project: the coop — that will be fun. I’m not a great carpenter, but even I can build a box, and put it inside another box covered in chicken wire. Photos forthcoming ….
Clean Beds
This was my other weekend project — cleaning out the garden beds and turning over the soil. I used straw mulch last year, which was a great success, but it was a seedy batch, and I wound up with a sturdy winter cover crop of wheat. I experimented a couple of months ago with just turning it over. But like the grass that I also have troubles with, it kept coming back.
So this weekend I went through each bed, digging out the wheat, and the carcasses of dead vegetables, and turned over the soil, breaking up lumps along the way. It was good solid physical work. It felt good after a long winter inside. And it’s the sort of quiet, repetitive task that gives you time to think about the things going on in your life. The sun was shining, it was warm, I was back in the garden, and all was good.
This compost bin was nearly empty when I started pulling wheat sprouts. I think it’s going to make a nice start to the season — by default it’s a pretty good mix of green and brown. We’ll see — maybe it’ll heat up. But it was a good weekend of real work.
And now I’m ready to start planting.
Chickens in the Shed
This is Raymond, staring at the shed door, because on the far side of that door are four baby chicks in a cardboard box tucked into a dog crate all kept warm by an infrared light.
There were six chicks, but I erred and thought they were too hot under the light, and so two of them caught a chill and gave up their tiny little ghosts. They’re resting peacefully in the compost pile.
Here’s the little peepers. Saturday morning I called Murdochs, our local ranch store to see if the chicks had come in (they’ve had a shortage this year, one of their hatcheries cancelled on them). They’d just unpacked an order, so I jumped in the car at 7:30 to get there before the small children of Bozeman had mauled the poor little things to death.
They only had two varieties — Rhode Island Reds and Red Star Sex Link — so I got three of each. They cheeped all the way home in their tiny cardboard box. So loud for little tiny things — they’re none of them any bigger than a ping pong ball, with downy little proto-feathers.
I wound up putting them in an old cardboard box with nice high sides to keep the draft out, inside the dog crate to protect them from critters, and then covered it all with a tarp to keep them warm. I don’t have electricity out in the shed, so there’s a very long extension cord strung across the yard (Patrick left me several 100 foot outdoor extension cords — the benefit of relatives in the party tent industry).
Last night it snowed, and the temps dropped down into the high twenties, and I’m happy to report that the four survivors seem pretty perky out there. I took a couple of old towels to drape over the tarp to try to keep them a little warmer, poor things. But they’re in there, cheeping away — I’ll have to clean the cage when I get home from dog walking.
And so a new adventure begins. Chickens! I’ve wanted chickens forever, but kept telling myself that I couldn’t have chickens because I have dogs. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to stop telling myself that things I want are impossible — to taks a shot at it. And so, chickens. Chickens!
Tomatoes in the Basement
This weekend I started seeds — tomatoes and leeks right now. I’ve blogged before about my seed starting setup, and nothing’s changed since last spring, so I’ll simply send you to this older post if you want to know the mechanics of how I get things rolling every year.
This year I’m going to give leeks a shot. I love leeks, and they’re so expensive in the store. I tried them once by direct sowing and they didn’t take, so I thought I’d give it one more shot. For the leeks, I simply filled one tray with seed starting mix, then made several trenches in it with a ruler, and sowed the leeks. I bought one of those fancy onion/leek seed starting trays at the garden store the other day, the kind that instead of having cells has long narrow slots, but the slots weren’t very deep, and it looked like I was going to have to transplant them earlier than I’d like to, so I went with direct sowing in a tray. I think I’m going to start the lettuces this way as well. (And next time I’m in Bozeman, I’ll just return the unused tray.)
I started many tomatoes this year, in part because I’m planning to sell seedlings at the Farmer’s Market. Here’s hoping that people will want Siberian and Heirloom varieties instead of boring old Early Girl. I planted 12 cells each of the folowing:
- Mountain Princess from High Mowing Seeds
This is a new variety for me. I picked up the seed packet at the local food co-op last summer. - Marmande from Seeds of Italy I love this tomato. It’s a slightly flat, delicious French heirloom.
- Grushovka Siberian from High Altitude Gardens I’ve had good luck with the Siberian tomatoes in the past — they come in at 3-4 ounces, nice red, round fruits and are adapted for short seasons.
- Olga’s Yellow Chicken from High Altitude Gardens (which they no longer carry so I’d better save seed this year.) This is a nice yellow tomato that I grow as much for the name as for anything else.
- Galina Siberian from High Altitude Gardens A fabulous yellow cherry tomato. Huge indeterminate vines that will grow up and over anything (they’d be terrific in an arbor) and delicious fruit.
- Black Cherry from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden SeedsThis was a nicely-flavored black cherry tomato that I grew for the first time last year. I wish it had come in a little earlier than it did, but once it started producing it was prolific.
- Marglobe from Seeds of Italy Another Italian heirloom — great flavor in a compact round fruit.
- Principe Borghese from Seeds of Italy The perfect canning or drying tomato. Ripens in clusters like grapes.
- Jaune Flamee from Shepherd’s Garden Seeds (originally, this year I started seeds I saved myself, which is good because they don’t seem to be carrying them anymore.) This is a delicious orange tomato that also grows in clusters. I had great luck with this one last year and I’m so glad I saved seed!
- Perestroika Siberian from High Altitude Gardens My goal this year is to take better notes on the Siberian tomatoes — I can never remember which ones were better than the others.
- Prairie Fire from High Altitude Gardens This was my earliest tomato last year — produced a good three weeks before any of the other non-cherry varieties. A Montana native with compact and delicious fruits.
It’ll be about a week or so before anything much happens downstairs on that bench. I’m hoping that things will thaw out enough that I can get the rest of my beds turned over (and cleared of the wheat growing from last summer’s straw mulch). I’d like to start some spinach and onions — I’m growing weary of eating last year’s frozen greens and would love something new and fresh …